Chapter 2
She had to stop thinking about the blood. Ignoring the liquid substance in her mouth, she concentrated on the rest of her body. She cried out as the pain overwhelmed her. The pain seemed to stretch from her stomach up her ribs to her pounding head and her hands. More specifically, her wrists. It was as if she could feel every nerve in her wrists. She tried to move them, but found that they were immobile. As she focused, she realized that her arms weren't hanging by her sides. They were above her.
*****
Wednesday
4:12 AM
Booth flipped through the file for what felt like the hundredth time. He wasn't reading it. He was just flipping. He saw each page as he went through them, but the words stopped holding any meaning. He was frustrated and tired and the two did not make for a good combination.
The file itself was just as Booth remembered. All of his notes and reports from the original case were exactly the same. Nothing had changed. Of course, he hadn't expected the reports to actually change, but he had hoped that something would be different. He had hoped that something would jump off the page that proved that Collin Brown belonged in jail, but nothing jumped. Nothing even hopped. If anything, the words on the pages just blurred together.
There was no evidence that Collin Brown had committed the crimes, just like there hadn't been any evidence when the case was first brought to trial. There was nothing Booth had missed the first time around; nothing that he could have used to make Collin Brown's prosecution stick. Booth was proud of himself and his team that they had been so thorough the first time around, but his thoroughness wasn't helping them now. Booth closed the file folder he was holding. The only thing Booth knew for sure was that regardless of what the file included or didn't include, Collin Brown was guilty and Booth was going to do everything in his power to prove it all over again.
Sighing. Booth flipped the file open again. He was determined to read it for real. That was until Booth heard a small sigh escape his partner's lips. He looked down at her and smiled. Her head was resting on his thigh, her legs tucked underneath her. Her face was turned away from her, but he still had a good view of her perfect facial features. He put the file down beside him and couldn't help but stare at her sleeping form.
Booth would never admit it to anyone, but he often caught himself staring at her. She was impossible not to stare at. Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, but she was so fascinating to listen to that Booth couldn't help it. But this, her sleeping on him, was an amazing moment. On the rare occasion that Booth did get to see her sleep, he took advantage of it. When she was sleeping, he could stare at her without worrying that she would notice. Watching her sleep was one of his favorite things to do. He only wished he had the opportunity to do it more often.
Booth was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the front of his desk in his office. Somehow over the last eight hours he had gone from sitting in his chair with Brennan across from him to sitting on the floor with her taking up residence beside him to her slumping over on him as she fell asleep. Booth had gently guided her head to his lap as she slept to make her more comfortable. He knew she would probably wake up with a neck ache, but he just didn't have the heart to wake her.
He longed to touch her. He always had that longing. Usually just patting her on the shoulder or putting his hand on her back was enough, but not recently. Recently he wanted more. Recently his hand had lingered on her shoulder for moments longer than it should have and his hand somehow always found hers when they were doing something as simple as eating together or going over paperwork. As he stared at her, he couldn't help himself. He ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. He let his thumb run down her warm cheek. She let out another little sigh in her sleep. Booth wondered if it was a sigh of contentment.
Tearing his glance away from her, he looked back at the file that he had tossed aside. He really didn't want to pick it up again. They had been going through the old files for eight hours. Booth looked at his watch. It was just past four AM. He rubbed his face with his hands and then glanced over at the nearly empty Thai take out containers. Using the chopsticks that were still in the container, he shoved a pile of Pad Thai into his mouth. It was cold and tasted like it was eight hours old, but he didn't care. He was hungry. He was about to finish off the container when his phone rang. Cursing under his breath, Booth snagged it from the floor beside him. Brennan immediately lifted her head, her eyes wide. He could tell just from the deer in the headlights look that was on her face that she was embarrassed to have fallen asleep. What was probably more embarrassing to her was that she had fallen asleep on him. Seeking her cheeks turn red, Booth smiled.
"Booth," he said, answering the phone.
Brennan sat up and slide slightly away from him, straightening her hair. She picked up the file that she had dropped as she had fallen asleep and opened it.
"You're sure?" There was a pause. "When?" Another pause. "Yeah, I'll be there."
Booth slammed his phone shut and dropped it next to him, not caring that it hit the floor hard and bounced.
"You might want to more careful with that," Brennan said. "After all, your phone barely survived the flight across my office. I'm not sure it can handle another trauma like that."
"Trust me," Booth said. "It's survived worse."
"What was that all about?" Brennan asked, pointing to the phone. She was grateful that they had something else to talk about besides the fact that she had fallen asleep on him.
"They're releasing Collin Brown at noon today."
"Noon? That doesn't give us much time."
"No, it doesn't."
"Have you found anything in the file that we could use?"
"It's just as big a dead end as it was ten years ago," Booth answered.
He stood up, needing to stretch his legs. He felt like punching something, but he knew that wasn't going to solve anything.
"What about the videos?"
"We'll take a look at them as soon as we can get them out of the evidence locker."
"Hopefully they can help us," Brennan said.
"I wouldn't count on it. Collin Brown was a smart man. He could never be identified on the videos."
"Well, we'll figure something out," Brennan said, scanning over the forensic evidence that was found at the scene. Booth was right, they had nothing to go on.
"We've been at this all night," Booth said. "You should go home."
"I'm fine."
"Bones…"
"Really, I'm fine," she insisted.
"Is that why I have a drool spot on my pants?" He teased.
Her cheeks immediately went crimson and she turned her attention back to the file.
"You should have woken me," she mumbled.
"Why?"
"Because it was…inappropriate."
"Inappropriate that you feel asleep at four o'clock in the morning after spending all day at work and then reading over the same files for eight hours?"
"You know what I mean. You should have woken me."
He squatted down in front of her, his face dangerously close to her own.
"I couldn't. You're so peaceful when you sleep. I didn't want to disturb you." He reached out and curled a strand of her hair around his finger. "Besides…sleeping means no talking, which means no arguing, which means it's the only peace I get when you're around."
She scoffed and pushed him back. Smiling, he stood up.
"Let me remind you that you started it earlier."
"Started what?"
"The whole toilet seat argument. You started it."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Are we going to argue again or are we going to find some way to put this psycho back in jail?"
"I thought you said psycho was an overuse word in our society."
"Fine," Brennan said, standing up. "If you don't want my help, I've got a nice, comfortable bed at home that…"
He reached for her arm, pulling her back from the door. "No, I definitely want your help. You and your squints are my only hope."
"Well, then what are we still doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
"We've got a whole box of physical evidence locked up somewhere in the basement of the FBI building that my team could be looking at. So, I repeat, what are we still doing here?"
"Bones, it's four o'clock in the morning."
"So?"
"So…normal people are asleep at this hour." She cocked her eyebrow at him. "Right, what am I saying? Squints aren't normal."
Brennan took her cell phone out of her pocket and was about to hit the speed dial when Booth put his hand on her arm, stopping her.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Calling Hodgins," Brennan explained.
"Call Angela."
"Why?"
"Just call Angela," he insisted.
"But there's no facial reconstruction to be done, no scenarios to run through. We already know what happened. Now we just have to prove it. And for that, we need Hodgins so he can take a look at…"
"I know why we need Hodgins."
"Then why can't I call Hodgins?"
"Because my guess is that he and Angela are curled up in a bed somewhere, probably in one of the many bedrooms in Hodgins' mansion…"
"Estate."
"What?"
"Hodgins doesn't have a mansion. He has an estate."
"It's got more than four bathrooms. It's a mansion. Anyway, the point is the only way you're going to get Hodgins out of bed is if you rouse his woman, too."
"Don't call Angela his woman. She doesn't belong to him. She's still her own person, you know."
"Just call Angela."
Booth finally took his hand off of Brennan's arm. She rolled her eyes, speed dialed Angela, and waited.
"Hi Angela, it's me." She paused. "Yes, I know it's early, but I need your help. Can you get Hodgins and meet me in twenty minutes?" Another pause. "Thanks." She hung up and slid the phone back into her pocket.
"I told you," he said.
"I could have gotten Hodgins here without having to wake up Angela. Although Angela might prove invaluable when it comes to those videos. She might be able to find something that was missed last time."
"Not likely, but twenty minutes…that's not bad. They can mobilize that fast, huh?"
"I've got the best."
"That's where you're wrong," he said. "You are the best."
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number from memory.
"Who are you calling?"
"You've got your squints on route. Now we need the evidence to get to the Jeffersonian," he explained.
"Will they send it at four o'clock in the morning?"
"They will if I say please," Booth said as he listened to the phone ringing, waiting for someone to pick it up.
"Yes, this is Special Agent Booth. I need all of the evidence pulled from the Collin Brown case and sent to the Jeffersonian care of Dr. Brennan." He paused. "No, not later. Now. Yes, everything. I know what time it is, but this is important." Again, he paused. "Thank you."
Booth flipped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket.
"Alright, let's go."
Booth started to walk out of his office, but Brennan stayed behind. "What?" He asked, noticing her reluctance.
"You didn't say please."
Booth took her by the arm. "Come on."
Author's Note: So, I probably should have mentioned in the first chapter that this story eventually will begin to deal with some adult themes. Nothing will be graphic, but I'm just letting you know now. With that being said, thank you for all the positive reviews so far. This was a fun little chapter to write. I hope you like it!
